[TR] Mt. Thompson - W. Ridge 8/17/2008

[ddday]

Trip: Mt. Thompson - W. Ridge

 

Date: 8/17/2008

 

Trip Report:

My son and I hiked in to Ridge Lake Saturday afternoon with a NOAA forecast under our belt predicting good weather around Mt. Thompson thru Sunday afternoon. Even arriving in the evening we were able to choose from several nice campsites. We settled in to a beautiful evening with only modest mosquito and black fly issues - saturating the skin with DEET helped. At around 2am the rain and lightning started up, but,interestingly with no thunder , and when I awoke the ground was so dry I thought maybe I had dreamt the rain. My friend who showed up Sunday morning confirmed otherwise as his departure from Seattle was in heavy rain, lightning and thunder.

 

Dan arrived around 8:30am, at which point we headed on in to Bumble Bee Pass (20min) then up to the Notch (2hrs later). After a bit of handwringing about weather systems moving through and lightning potential we decided it was okay to go. At 1:15pm the three of us arrived at the summit, back to camp by 4:00pm, broke camp and hiked out via the CW trail in 3hrs.

 

Route is clean with minimal rockfall hazard, the descent is pretty straightforward, just follow the trails through the heather.

 

A couple of pix can be found here.

Mt Thompson Pix

 

Gear Notes:

Rope, Small Rack, Helmet

 

Approach Notes:

The PCT and approach to the climb is virtually snow free with a small patch remaining at the lake to keep you summit beers cold.

Edited August 19, 2008 by ddday

[zoroastr]

Nice TR and pix! That route's a fave. A huge congrats to your fearless son!! I can't think of a better way to bond with your child than to be roped together on a class 5.7 pitch above a 600-ft drop. Also, thanks for the trail report. I'm thinking of a nice day hike up Chikamin.

--cheers